Monday 16th March 2015

PH F1 Wake Up review

Setting the alarms for 0300 on a Sunday morning actually was worth it!

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We were lucky enough to have Mercedes-Benz World and its cinema to ourselves on Sunday morning. Surprisingly enough there weren't many others around... But how better to watch the first F1 race of a new season than with like-minded enthusiasts, in a comfy seat and on a six-metre screen?

We were joined by 70 PHers when it was still very dark on Sunday morning. Fortunately the early start was eased slightly by a complimentary bacon roll and tea or coffee. All in attendance were much more talkative after their breakfast...

We also had a very knowledgable host (Danny Hornigold of Verbal F1) giving us an insight into strategy decisions and the real meaning of the teams' cryptic radio messages. His was a very welcome expert opinion so a big thanks to Danny.

The race itself certainly wasn't the most enthralling, with Mercedes taking a lights-to-flag one-two and only 11 finishers. But there were certainly a few discussion points. Can Sauber maintain that sort of form all season? Will Ferrari v. Williams be the battle for second place or can Red Bull up its game? And what can McLaren-Honda realistically achieve? There's much to look forward to despite a slightly lacklustre start to 2015.

The freebies weren't limited to the refreshments either as we were also able to give away to either a copy of Autosport or F1 Racing, a hardback copy of the official Formula 1 season review of 2014, a subscription offer for Autosport and F1 Racing plus a PH smiley. Not only that but the nice chaps at Bounce gave us some of their tasty energy balls which went down really well. Our friends at Pact were also good enough to send samples of their gorgeous coffee to help keep us awake for the rest of the day. They have also given us some PH exclusive offers:

Try Pact for £1:
Use the code 'piston1' to get a bag of fresh roasted coffee for £1. Of course they hope you buy their fresh coffee for ever more, but there is absolutely no obligation to do so.

Get a free Hario V60 worth £15:
Use the code 'pistonv60' to get a free Hario drip filter with your first bag of Pact coffee. It's by far the simplest way to make excellent coffee at home. Again, no obligation or trickery!

You'll have no excuse for being tired ever again thanks to Pact and Bounce. Hopefully. As and when there are future similar events, we'll be sure to keep you informed. Until then, we'll see you all at Silverstone on Sunday!

[HorneyMX5]

A cracking morning, thanks to all who made it happen.

Often free stuff gets tried once and then forgotten about. The whole Pact Coffee thing is brilliant though, I've ended up signing up.

[drewbagz]

Great morning guys, most definitely worth the early wake up. Kudos to the guys (and girls) who were awake extra early to get everything set-up for us.

Would be even better if this could become a regular occurrence. I can't think of anything better than watching the F1 with fellow PH'ers and like minded individuals, even the "in F1" jokes become laugh out loud as you are in a room filled with people who actually get it!

Oh, and we need to start a petition to have Arnie host all of the post race interview's on the podium;

Arnie to Nico "and you, how does it feel to be second"

[The Leaper]

Yes, excellent event. Well done PH and MBW...those bacon baps were really superb!

I'd welcome the chance to do this more often but knowing that MBW is open on Sundays I cannot see how they cane stage it other than when the races are well over before opening time.

R.

[dlockhart]

It was a great morning, the coffee & bacon roll were welcome and the staff at MBW were friendly and alert , which is more than could be said for me.

the freebies were a bonus and the autosport f1 review is currently adorning my coffee table

[BigBen]

I really enjoyed the event, in fact it somewhat made up for a dull-ish race.

I have not got round to trying the coffee yet but it looks good. The Autosport season review book was a welcome gift and includes some fantastic pictures.

Thank you to all who made it possible and keep us up to date with details of the next outing

Ben

[civicduty]

PH said:

Setting the alarms for 0300 on a Sunday morning actually was worth it!

Try 01:30 and you might be closer to the mark!!!

But boy was it worth it just for the venue, as well as watching a race with 70 odd like minded people, who all groaned when K-Mag's engine shat itself all over the track and who all laughed when Maldonado binned it yet again (did he really need to be occupying that particular bit of the track surely he could have moved right a little bit).

The commentary from Danny was insightful as well, thanks to him for giving up his weekend in the sun to be with us, especially the info on Pitstops about hands in the air being old hat and therefore better explaining Kimi's unsafe release.

The goodies were a nice addition too.

Thanks to Bounce for the energy balls most welcome after three hours sleep (Apple and Cinnamon were my fave).

Thanks to Pact for coffee I will attempt to brew up a cup for the wife this weekend, supposedly something called Mothers Day happened whilst this PH event was on, and I am not sure how useful my son was on Sunday!!

Also thanks to Autosport for the end of year review that is some serious smallest room in the house reading.

Also thanks to HorneyMX5 for turning up at Fleet I was starting to feel lonely at 03:20 mooching around a fuel station.

Hope to have another PH F1 event in the near future and I hope I will be able to attend.

Thanks PH and Eybic for all your hard work.

PS, has anyone found what what it is that PH Staffer 'Ben' does??

[ingrowtn]

civicduty said:

PH said:

Setting the alarms for 0300 on a Sunday morning actually was worth it!

Try 01:30 and you might be closer to the mark!!!

Saturday morning for me But well worth the 250 mile drive and the hotel expense. MBW was great, the suspended and dissected F1 car was just the coolest thing ever.

So often the whole gifts thing at events are pants, but the freebie gifts we were given at this event were really really good; hot coffee and a bacon buttie at 4:30 in the morning was just what the doctor ordered to a big big thanks to Mercedes Benz and PH. (They were that good I managed to get two!!)

Hung around for a couple of hours afterward to enjoy a wander around the Brooklands Museum; all in all a cracking weekend.